Roadmap to the Executive Suite

The Value of Having Mentors and Managing Time in Your Career

March 18, 2021 Claudia Miller Season 1 Episode 7
Roadmap to the Executive Suite
The Value of Having Mentors and Managing Time in Your Career
Show Notes Transcript

How can mentorship help you in stepping into an executive position? What kind of mentors should be beside you as you move forward in your career?

In this episode, we have Leonor Gil, an inspiring executive who will share her words of wisdom when it comes to having mentors and managing your time as you grow in your professional and personal life. Leonor is a seasoned professional with over 30 years of experience in Financial Services. Passionate about creating and implementing strategies to promote an inclusive and diverse work environment. She will share who her first mentors are, how her mentors helped and inspired her in her career, and how she manages and balances her time to improve her personal and professional life.

In This Podcast We Talk About:

  • What is the catalyst that helped Leonor in her career path?
  • How to pick your mentor to elevate your career.
  • How do you manage your time to improve your personal and professional life?
  • When did Leonor decide she’ll take the path to be an executive and how did it happen?
  • Leonor shares how she brings balance with her personal and professional life and how she prioritizes all the aspects of her life.
  • Leonor shares her wisdom when it comes to time management.
  • Three things people should know to move forward to their career.
  • Leonor’s inspiring message to women who want to be in the C-suite position. 

Connect With Leonor:
LinkedIn

Links Mentioned:
Get to know more about My 90-Day Job Offer Program
Application to Work With Claudia Miller.
Roadmap to the Executive Suite
Networking Templates

About me:
I started my career like many people do: in an entry level role making around $35K a year, was the first to arrive and last to leave, putting a 110% into my job…But it wasn’t enough.

I was consistently being passed up for promotions and realized I was being underpaid compared to my colleagues.

I knew that in order to get ahead in my career and be able to make the money I wanted… to support the lifestyle I wanted…something had to change.

So, I started investing in myself. I worked with a career coach, resume writer, read every career book that I could get my hands on, enrolled in career courses, and studied colleagues wo seemed to be crushing it in their careers. And after investing over $20,000 in resources, coaches, and books…and spending thousands of hours over five years…I realized that many of the common advice out there did NOT move the needle when it came to advancing your career!

Instead, I handpicked and carefully selected what worked to create my now signature program, 90-Day Job Offer, that is unlike anything that is out there. I wish a program like this existed when I was going through my career advancement and salary negotiations. If so, it would have been a fraction of the cost and saved me over four years of frustration of trial-and-error.

Since then, my clients have taken my ready-to-use resources to advance their careers in 90-days or less, and secured on average a 56% increase in salary (to date my clients have received $30,000 - $120,000 in additional earned income per year)!!

I help women in technology land fulfilling, high-paying jobs at a company that values and appreciates them. I’m on a mission to help women in tech collectively earn over a $1M in the next year.

Will you join me?

Claudia Miller:

This is roadmap to executive suite podcast, a place where we talk about accelerating your careers and how to get to the C suite all tailored to the ambitious woman. We're here to have fun, feel empowered and get actionable steps to get you closer to your dream job and salary, no matter where you are in your career. I'm your host, Claudia Miller, and I'm a career coach who helps ambitious women get the jobs they want, all while getting them up to $50,000 in salary increases. I've been featured in Forbes MSNBC, and a one of the top 23 Most Innovative career coaches of 2025 Business Insider. Welcome to the show, and let's get started. Well, today I'm excited for our next guest. We have learner Gill as a professional in the financial services industry with over 30 years of experience. They're known as an advocate and strong supporter for diversity, equity and inclusion. Then I received the Chairman's Award DNI in 2017. And the Moorhead is the acid Leadership Award in 2018. No one enjoys positively impacting the lives of others by volunteering for Big Brother Big Sister for United Way and as a confirmation facilitator at her church. She serves as a mentor to co workers and to young Latinas for the fig factor Foundation, where she also serves as a board member and officer. They're known as a published contributing author to today's inspired Latina volume five. Ellen knows purpose in life is to help others and to live to serve and serve to live. Now I received a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Houston is fluent in Spanish holds several federal licenses including series 724 63 and 65 and has a mentor coach certification. They are known as a proud mother to two children, hothead or charging Carol and a proud grandmother to four grandchildren, Destiny Anthony Santina and J. Lani. Her hobbies include hiking, dancing, and spending time with family. I'm so happy to have

Leonor Gil:

you Linode thank you so much. I'm laughing because I'm like, damn, I mean, you know, it's you so, so sensitive. Yeah. And my son goes by George, and I'm like, wait a minute, your quarterback. Okay, I need you. To cheer it's holding up. Who's fine.

Claudia Miller:

I get it in like Spanish. My name is Claudia. But in like English speaking like, Claudia. And I'm like, okay, I can see.

Leonor Gil:

One or the other. It's the same thing.

Claudia Miller:

Yeah, I still answered. It was like maybe George or Jorge.

Leonor Gil:

Either one will do, but I feel prefer George I'm like, okay, whatever.

Unknown:

You want to call them however you want. Right? You're the mom

Leonor Gil:

of a different name for him. But I don't want I will embarrass him in here.

Claudia Miller:

Well, I'm not I'm so happy to have you. I mean, you have such an amazing background and accolades and achievements that you've had through your career, you know, most recently Senior Vice President and Northern Trust Corporation. So you know, tell us a little bit more about, you know, what made you who you are today.

Leonor Gil:

Wow, Claudia. Well, first of all, thank you for having me, it's a pleasure being here with you. And, you know, it's kind of a loaded question, you don't just become who you are, you know, in the blink of an eye really has been a lifelong journey. And when I think back to what was the catalyst for who I am, now, it has to be my mother. In law, she was a single mother of four. And she raised us so well, I can now say that, but one because I'm a mother myself. And because I can see the results of all of her teachings. And it really starts at home. You know, if you instill good values in your kids, they just carry through to, you know, school, high school, college, you know, being married, and you always abide by those values. So it has been a wonderful journey. But that has been kind of the backbone of anything and everything that I have done, because that's something that whether you're at an entry level position or down the road, as a manager, you carry those with you to be able to lead a group, for instance, I believe, we have to lead by example. So that doesn't come easy. My mom was an example to us, she worked very hard work a couple of times a couple of jobs rather, to be able to provide for us so So you think about those things as you're growing up in the world and in corporate America, and you pull from those experiences to actually mold the person that you are to become, and there's been so many other things that have contributed to that growth, not Claudia. And the other thing that I would say is having good mentors, having the right people around you really just shapes who you become and who you are. I

Claudia Miller:

think that the theme has been so far when I've talked to executives who've done great achievements, like you have no NOD is mentorship, it comes back then. So can you tell us like where did you find your mentors or how did it happen? I'm sure some of our listeners are trying to find mentors themselves and they don't know how or where to find them and you know, they might be Be a little bit nervous or scared just to, you know, reach out to someone.

Leonor Gil:

Absolutely, actually. And we're touching on a topic that's very near and dear to my heart. And the reason I say that is you mentioned I went and got my mentoring certification. But the reason I did that is because I realized that every one of us can become a mentor. And let me explain. Growing up, I never really thought that I had any mentors, per se, and I never like actually call them my mentors. But when I look back, it all started, as I said, with my mom, but down the road, I also had someone very influential in my life, and there was an uncle of mine. He was an executive in Mexico was here in the States. And I remember when I was in high school, he said, you know, make sure you go to college, because you know, what, if you get married, and it doesn't work out, what are you going to do? And I'm like, Well, yeah, I suppose that's true. But anyway, so he was very instrumental in getting me to say, Yes, I am going to continue my advanced education. I went to college, I graduated. But I at the time, I didn't even think that he was like a mentor, because he was a family member, right. But then the other one, they all mean to me, Theo was an executive, he must know something. I'm gonna listen to him, right. But then, you know, the other person that I can say, played a role in my life was when I was in high school, I met this lady, she was our history teacher, actually, her name was Sam is Bourbaki. I told the day, Claudia, remember what she looked like how she stood petite, you know, for hair pullback. I mean, she was wonderful. But the thing that I realized that helped me about her is the fact that she believed in me, I was here, maybe, I don't know, maybe two, three years coming from Mexico. My English was very broken. I mean, you know, I was not very fluent. But yet she trusted and believed that I could do the work. So she went ahead and assigned very difficult book reports that I didn't think I was going to be able to do. Anyway. So I did it, I got a really good grade. But the lesson for me there was that, you know, what, if somebody believes in me, why can't I believe in myself? And then of course, you know, as I went on, through life, I found myself other mentors. But you know, at the time, when you're meeting these people, you probably don't realize that that's what they are. These are people who are putting your path for a reason, people who will help you along who are going to pro your thinking, they're going to push you that they're going to challenge you, and they're going to say, You know what, you can do this, because a lot of times, that's all it takes somebody saying, Yes, I can do this. I mentioned earlier in our conversation, that I'm a member of the fifth factor Foundation, where our mission is to elevate young girls. And a lot of the experiences that I've had with these girls, Claudia, is the fact that they don't believe in themselves, they don't believe that they're good enough to do anything that they set themselves out to do. And a lot of times, it's only a matter of having somebody there to say, Yes, you are good enough. And that's kind of what's happened to me in the past that I have had people who have believed in me have been there with me have kind of like pushed me along. And you have to be mindful about who those people are. So there's a saying in Spanish, as you know, says, they make Konkin, the Quinta city, they Kinetise tell me who you hang out with. And I'll tell you who you are type of thing. And it's so important. Because if you have five people who you really want to model, then you're going to become that person, you're going to become more like that person. So it's really important to align yourself with people who you admire people who are already in a position that you want to go into. And that's very helpful. When it comes to mentors, it's really, really important that you pick not just your best friend or your manager, that you look around and pick someone from different industries. Why? Because it's like almost like putting a board of directors together for a company, you want somebody from a finance experience from, you know, human resources or from meto strategic perspective, economic perspective. And that's exactly what you want for yourself. You want to ask people from different backgrounds to become your mentors. And then you know, they become advocates and people who are going to vouch for you but for now, it's really important that is to align yourself with those kinds of people who are in different industries and who are going to challenge you along the way. We're not going to be telling you what you want to hear but what they know that you have to hear.

Claudia Miller:

Yeah, like to call it like creating your own league of advisors.

Leonor Gil:

Yes, yes, that's exactly what it is. They go by different names, advisors, that board of directors, you know, your your little community, whatever it is, but you definitely need to have something to something like that to be able to succeed and move on to the next phase of your life.

Claudia Miller:

Yeah, and one thing I have like recommendation for some of the listeners out there I know some people might say well, who I mean, I'm just with my friends are the same level that I am. How can I elevate you know my surroundings, kind of like you know, you're the average of your five closest friends but for that quote, it's not just your friends your surroundings. With but what are you surrounding your time with? So what books are you reading? You know, what kind of shows? Are you watching podcasts like, listen to this podcast you're learning from executive women who have broken barriers who have done amazing things. And this is just the beginning.

Leonor Gil:

Absolutely. You know what, you bring up a very good point. This is a time and age of technology. I mean, it really has a lot to do with time management, how do you manage your time? Do you sit in front of the TV or video games, or whatever the case may be? No, you do all the things in different areas, because success is not just about being at the top of your corporation has also been about really good with your spirituality, your physical well being your emotional, mental well being so so it's a mixture of a lot of different things. And I'm so glad that you bring this up, because it's not just doing well, at your job. It's a combination of all these things. And to be able to nurture that you do have to read the right books and align yourself with the right people. Look at the right inspiring dramas versus, you know, reality shows that don't really mean anything. Personally, I don't really care for those. But yes, absolutely. It's a well rounded approach to succeeding.

Claudia Miller:

Yeah, like kind of, to that point to, you know, read a lot. And I'm big on like, how can we become better? How can I expand and a lot of us have a lot of tunnel vision because of, of our poor upbringing. So for example, you know, I grew up low income, very humble beginnings. And to me at the time, when you were to ask me, like, in high school, like caught, if you could, what would you be a deal? What do you see yourself like, 25? And, you know, that time I'm like, Well, I'd be driving a red convertible, and, you know, have a job and house. And, you know, and I'll probably be making, like, 40 50,000 I wonder we have so much money. Now. I'm like, oh, okay, we I needed to expand my horizons, because at the time, that was my tunnel vision, my mom, you know, was working as a hairdresser. And you know, like, she wasn't making as much like as you would have been corporate. So to me, like 50,000 was like, Oh, wow, like, I would have made it. And now I'm like, How can I afford a house and brand new red convertible. But again, it was the books that I read the kind of those mentors that were not always direct mentors, like you mentioned, like, they were just surrounding myself and the books and a lot of this activity that I did that expanded my horizons, all of a sudden, without really changing my environment, you know, I was still growing up first one of my family to graduate from like high school, let alone College and a master's degree. So it was I was expanding that tunnel vision. And that's why they say, You're the average of your five closest friends, including like the TV, the radio now, I know some of my girlfriends, listen to reality TV show, I'd say don't. But also add some more books that you can read or podcasts or whatever that makes it easy for you in order to start influencing? How can you expand that horizon and tunnel vision that we currently tend to have in ourselves?

Leonor Gil:

So mostly, and a lot of that is, as you mentioned, is also cultural, right? Because a lot of the Hispanics, for instance, will be parents will say to their kids, oh, you know, if you do a great job, and then they'll work over time, you know, you're gonna get notice, and you're gonna get a promotion. Well, you know, that's also changed. It's not so much about putting in the gazillion hours and doing a great job. There's a course that bad. But then there's the other aspect of it, really knowing for the shakers and movers type of things. And networking is really important. And educating yourself and all of those things combined help. But now, it's not just the one thing is, you know, we were raised to believe that if you work hard, then you're gonna hit me because it's not like that anymore.

Claudia Miller:

Yeah, you know, I feel like, even like some of my girlfriends we actually have, eventually, we tend to have like, almost similar thoughts. Were like, kind of, like you mentioned, like, I would tell my mom like, Mom, I'm gonna negotiate my salary. She's like, No, like, don't like you're gonna risk your job offer like, don't do it. Just be grateful. And microphones are like, Oh, really? How much like, are you gonna go for like a 40 50k salary increase? I know last time, we got 30,000. And it's like, it's a totally different conversation with my girlfriends. They're in a similar wavelength that I'm in, as opposed to like, my mom who like, again, like, she has a different understanding her environment, how she perceives things is like, you're gonna lose a job. And then I tell her mom, actually, I got a $30,000 salary increase, and she's like, Oh, well, good for you. And it's just like, see, sometimes we have to take, we have to step ourselves out of the comfort zone in order to become the next better version of ourselves and to keep growing and expanding.

Leonor Gil:

Absolutely. Can I agree with you more? But yes, we do face those comments from our viewers. Oh, no. Don't rock the boat. And let's see, you know, it's okay.

Claudia Miller:

Great. Well, I wanted to ask my next question, I think is great conversation and dialogue. But I also wanted to know like, why did you decide you wanted to become an executive like how did it happen? Was it planned or was it like, hey, learner, by the way, what a want this VP job and you're like, who's Sure, because I feel like from my understanding is, when you get to that high level, it's hard to be more intentional because if you let your career guide you, I mean, it can steer so many ways. But tell us a little bit more like, why did you decide you wanted to become an executive? And how did that happen?

Leonor Gil:

You know, I think it'll goes back to my early upbringing. I mentioned my mom being a single mom, and her brother, the uncle that I mentioned earlier, he would come home and this was like, way back when when he was still in school, and he would come back and back in the day, now, I'm kind of aging myself here. But back in the day, he would come home with shorthand tablets, and with, you know, typed out sheets, and I would look at them and be like, What is this? Oh, it's serious. But I also liked the fact that He then got a job at a very nice company, he was always worried. So he looked really good. And I'm like, I want to do that when I grew up, because I liked it. You know, he was very presentable, hands on and all this gibberish, I had no clue what it was, I want to someday do something similar, right. So that was I think, like, kind of the beginning. And then the other thing is, you know, seeing my mom work as hard as she did, Claudia, that to me was like, gotta do better, you cannot be working in a factory job in the restaurant, Job is a cook. No, I got to do better. And I always have to be learning and doing better and better things to not only be an example, to my own immediate siblings, but the family as a whole. As you mentioned, I'm also the very first one to graduate, high school and college here in the states of my generation. And so proud to say that I've had no nephews and nieces who kind of followed in that same path. And that's such a great feeling to know that you made a difference. But my being an executive didn't just happen, you know, it's just been a lot of hard work a lot of, you know, proving yourself because especially when you're Hispanic woman, that's even tougher. That's been my experience, you know, one day look at you like, Okay, I actually had somebody in my prior company, I asked me what I was doing here when I told her that I was from Mexico. And she just kind of looked at me and says, Well, what are you doing here? Like, you don't go back to your country type of thing. And I'm like, Okay, no, that's not gonna happen.

Claudia Miller:

I'm actually your boss.

Leonor Gil:

Might be kidding. But that's exactly what happened. So department assistant, and then I worked my way up to supervisor, manager, director, so on and so forth. But it didn't just happen overnight, it was a lot of long hours, a lot of work, a lot of challenges that I had to overcome, not just in the workplace, but on a personal basis, too. Because at the time, you know, it's a woman, you know, you're not being the the executive, you're also being the wife and the mom and the sister and the friend. And you have to learn how to balance all those things. And that's a tough thing to do, you know, to be able to balance everything else. So you're not, you know, falling on this side or that side, or given too much to work and not enough to your kids, especially when they're little kids. So it's a lot of hard work, long journey, a lot of education, knowing the right people, the right mentors. So it just doesn't just happen. I'm sure there's people who are extremely fortunate to have an executive position and under a lamp, but that was not me. Yeah, that's

Claudia Miller:

what I've seen, like, from working with clients and executive roles and just having guests on the podcast, it's very intentional. And it's not like, you get tagged, like, Hey, want to become VP. I mean, there are times when you have great mentors, and you have advocates for you, they start grooming you and prepping you with maybe without you realizing it. But again, it's that same like you come in saying I'm going to do the best that I can you're networking, you're building those mentors and created that advocacy in League of advisors that you can go to so that when the time comes, you're already set you've been grooming and preparing for this point in your life

Leonor Gil:

absolutely happens. Economically, just kind of organically rather.

Claudia Miller:

So I mean, I'm curious to know, because I mean, you like you said you mentioned your mom, your grandmother, your soul, a sister and you have so many you're playing so many different parts in your life, how do you manage all of it? And you know, what do you recommend for women that are you know, maybe trying to think of going to a director level position, you know, worried that they won't be able to spend enough time with their family or they're considering do I want to go to executive level? Will I have enough time for my family? What I have a life where am I just gonna give up my soap and my whole entire, you know, lifestyle to my job and therefore that's all I ever be?

Leonor Gil:

Yes. So then those are great questions to ask yourself and actually, that's what I was gonna say you really have to look deep inside and say, what's the priority in my life? And I think a lot of it also has to do where in your career you're at somebody who's starting out their career may say, okay, you know, ideas, I'm gonna go on to become a manager or executive director or whatever. But I have my mom was taking care of the kids, you know, different circumstances, so you might be able to make a different decision as to when you're older in your career. For me, it came down to priorities. My family was always my priority. No matter what happened, I mean, I let my company know back in the day I said, You know what something happens. And the nice thing about it tonight is that I was with a company that valued family. So that's also important to be with a corporation to know, that knows your values and knows your priorities, and they can work with you. And they're flexible with you. Because yes, even though you're an executive, and you're leading this, you know, huge effort or initiative or whatever, it's great to know that there's some flexibility there. On the other hand, you know, you as an executive have to prepare for those emergencies or situations and have people around you, whether it be your spouse, or your mom, or a very reliable caregiver, if your children that you're worried about, but have those things in place for you to have that peace of mind to be able to concentrate on the things that you need to do. But for me, bottom line family, of course, you know, yes, work, yes. But emergencies, I wouldn't hesitate to doing what I had to do, obviously not dropped the ball. Because if you never do that, but it have the people in place to be able to take over so that I can take care of the most important things in my life.

Claudia Miller:

That sounds amazing. I'm glad that you were able to still have that work life balance where you know, your family is very important. But you're still able to deliver on your work in the workplace. And then like you mentioned, you moved yourself up from like, you know, your entry level position all the way to Vice President.

Leonor Gil:

Yes. And that's something that you know what it doesn't like I said, it doesn't come easy, but at the same time, a lot of that also has to do with time management, you know, how do you allocate the time you we all have 24 hours in the day, but how is it that we allocate those hours see that because in addition to work, and in home, you know, it's you, it's number one, you have to take care of yourself first, before you can do anything? If you don't take care of number one, then nothing works.

Claudia Miller:

Yep, I agree. So then if people could know just three things about how to get ahead in their career, so they can apply in their life, what would they be? And why?

Leonor Gil:

Oh, my goodness, three things. Yeah, you don't like me initially, just knowing what your core values are, work from those, because once you set that as a foundation, then you can build on those. That's very, very important. Also, having the right people around you, we've been talking about being surrounded by the right people and being the result of the five people that you hang out with, that's extremely important, and also doing what you're really passionate about. Because if you're not liking what you're doing on a day to day basis, you're not going to succeed, you know, and that's so important. And in a lot of times, we don't have the luxury of going into something that we love. While we're just kind of working up up the ladder, right? You know, we just have got to do what we got to do. But that's really not exactly the end goal. It's not like what I'm crazy about. Because once you find that passion, then everything kind of kind of flows together kind of falls into place, and makes it a lot easier.

Claudia Miller:

I actually just had a conversation with a leadership coach. She's a global leadership coach, where she works with like generals and CEOs. And one thing she told me is, like, you know, all of us have a different leadership style or leadership language. For those that I follow, like love languages, there's also a leadership language. And actually, she was, you know, when I was working, I just, I'm not big on like, the small details, a more strategic vision, this is what its gonna look like, here's how we can expand and grow. And, you know, she was saying that there are different leadership styles understanding she's like, that's why you didn't join those types of roles, because you weren't optimizing on where you thrive in where I thrive, ministers strategy and business development, like how do we expand and make this bigger? And you're like, you're right, that's really what I enjoy. I'm not a person that likes to do like, I can do it, but it doesn't bring me a lot of joy. So if 80% of my work is working, yeah, the mundane day to day detail. That's how I was feeling drained. And I, you know, I was still doing really well on my job, but I just didn't enjoy it. So, you know, for some people out there, they might say like, why just suck at my job, or I just hate my job. That may that's not the case, it might be that you're just in the wrong job position. Maybe you need to figure out where your strengths and then go into that role, because you'll be surprised how fast you're going to thrive and be able to enjoy that work and it's going to change as your overall well being because the longer it will drain you but it won't actually re energize you.

Leonor Gil:

Absolutely. For the longest time I had a quote pasted to my desk and it was along those lines. If you do the work that you're most passionate about, then you'll never have to work a day in your life or something. And I love that because it's so true and passionate about doing what you're doing doesn't feel like work. You know, you can do it like you know 24/7 type of thing. Yeah, hold on. I

Claudia Miller:

mean, it was so great having you on the show. Is there anything else you would like to share with our listeners out there? Can people reach out to you I know if they wanted to reach out To get to know you a little bit more, learn more about the organizations that you're part of.

Leonor Gil:

Absolutely. I'm on LinkedIn. So I can always be reached by LinkedIn, via LinkedIn, whether if there's one thing that I would love to tell, especially our Hispanic ladies growing up in the industry or, you know, stepping up the ladder of executives of their companies is just believe in yourself. Don't let anyone tell you that you can do it because you do have everything that it takes to make it to the top. Well, thanks

Claudia Miller:

so much, Leonard. I appreciate all your expertise and insights that you shared with us today. Pleasure having you.

Leonor Gil:

Thank you so much for being here today.

Claudia Miller:

Thanks for listening in. If you like this episode, you can go to our website roadmap to the executive suite.com For show notes and sign up to get alerts. All new episodes will be posted every Thursday. Talk to you next week.